All Stars debacle

AFL Northern Territory has been badly hurt financially, Cricket Australia is furious and the Territory's ability to hold major sporting events at this time of year is now in question.

No one can stop the rain and it's only an unfortunate set of weather patterns that led to the match being moved from Darwin and then abandoned at the last minute in Alice Springs.

As AFLNT boss Tony Frawley said: "It's like this match was never meant to happen."

But the decision to shift the game to Traeger Park in Alice Springs just 36 hours before the start of the country's national Indigenous Cricket Cup - jeopardising the entire tournament - could not have sent a stronger message to all other sporting codes.

This is the AFL's turf, and the Territory Government knows it.

The All Stars Game has been in doubt since the second week of January, which makes the frantic changes and cancellations all the more bizarre.

Marrara Stadium in Darwin was waterlogged and the national Indigenous Cricket Carnival already had dibs on Traeger Park.

Alternative grounds in Melbourne, Adelaide, the Gold Coast and Western Sydney could have been prepared in time.

To its credit, the Northern Territory Government fought as hard as it could to keep the game on home turf.

But it's come at a big cost.

The Territory may now lose the national Indigenous Cricket Carnival.

Cricket Australia's chief executive James Sutherland said: "We need to consider the long-term viability of staging all aspects of the tournament in Alice Springs beyond the end of the current agreement in 2012'.

And the AFL is already pushing for the next All Stars Game to be held in western Sydney.

In November, AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said: "Our desire is to get an All-Stars game at Blacktown.

"I think it would be a great venue for it and that's something we're going to be looking at very, very closely."

It makes sense for the government to try and attract more top class AFL games.

But if this is continually done at the expense of other codes, sporting events like Top End cricket test matches will become a thing of the past.